Ken Borland

The confidence the Proteas have in their skills was shown in their inspiring T20 series win over England at the weekend and will hold them in good stead in the World Cup on the big fields in Australia, according to star spinner Tabraiz Shamsi.

After being walloped on the tiny Bristol county ground, South Africa produced two comprehensive, compelling victories at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, where there was at least one long boundary, and at the massive Rose Bowl in Southampton. Shamsi was at the forefront of the turnaround: after being belted for 49 runs in three overs in the first match, he was superb thereafter taking 3/27 and a career-best 5/24 in the two victories.

The triumph over one of the favourites for the T20 World Cup in October, where the Proteas will play in Hobart, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide in the group stage, suggests South Africa will be dangerous in Australia.

“Australia has big fields and that brings the skills of batting and bowling more into it,” Shamsi said. “There’s no issue for us playing on fields with big boundaries, we have a different game-plan to a team like England.

“So we are very confident with the way we are playing and how that will work on the fields in Australia. Bristol was a very small ground while Cardiff at least had one big side.

“England are still an amazing team, but this definitely puts us in a good space knowing that we have beaten them. And maybe they will respect us a bit more too.

“We’re very happy with the way we performed and the series win, we’ll put it in the bank and try and improve in our next series,” Shamsi said ahead of two T20s against Ireland, back in Bristol, on Wednesday and Friday.

While what happened in the first T20 might have knocked the confidence of a lesser player, Shamsi said he was quickly at peace with the hammering he took in Bristol.

“The first game obviously didn’t go according to plan by any stretch of the imagination. But you have to give credit to the management and the players for treating it as an anomaly, not a harsh word was spoken about it.

“When you’re up against world-class players, sometimes that can happen. I didn’t give it too much thought although there was a lot that wasn’t great about it. I just focused on what I know I can do.

“The last match was brilliant – it started with the batsmen, then the fielders and the bowlers, the guys coming on before me did a great job.

“We’ve been on a journey since last year and we have good confidence. We’re finding different matchwinners, different guys are producing the game-changing spell or innings,” Shamsi said.

Rilee Rossouw batted with power and precision and Tabraiz Shamsi bounced back superbly from his mauling in the first match as South Africa levelled the T20 series with an impressive 58-run win over England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday night.

Given how comprehensively they were outplayed in the first T20, the Proteas surprisingly fielded an unchanged XI and Rossouw, who scored just 4 in his comeback match, made the most of his second chance with a fiery 96 not out off 55 balls leading the tourists to a sizeable 207/3 after they had been sent in to bat.

Wrist-spinner Shamsi, who went for 49 runs in three overs in the Bristol battering, was the key bowler for South Africa, taking 3/27 in his four overs. That included the key wicket of Moeen Ali, who blasted England’s fastest ever T20 half-century in the first match and looked in similar touch in Cardiff as he blitzed 28 off 17 balls before Keshav Maharaj took a brilliant catch, running and diving at long-off.

It typified a vastly improved fielding effort by the Proteas as well, and when Sam Curran (2) fell to the same combination in the same over, England had slipped to 92/5 after 11 overs.

Earlier, Reeza Hendricks continued to fulfil the desire of the Proteas management for more aggression up front, stroking a fluent, impressive 53 off 32 balls up front.

He dovetailed brilliantly with Rossouw, the pair adding 73 in 7.4 overs for the second wicket.

The left-handed Rossouw showed his power game as he launched five sixes, but he also produced some superb touches that created some of his 10 fours.

Captain Jos Buttler gave England the rapid start they wanted with 29 off 14 balls, but Andile Phehlukwayo, another who rebounded extremely well with three wickets, had him caught off a leading edge.

Spinners Shamsi and Maharaj, with the important wicket of Dawid Malan (5) then did their job, and it was left to the outstanding Lungi Ngidi (2.4-0-11-2) to wrap up the game, England being bowled out for 149 inside 17 overs.

The clever seam bowling of Dwaine Pretorius and the guile of spinners Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi dominated England in the shortened second ODI at Old Trafford on Friday, the hosts being bowled out for 201 in the last of their 29 overs.

Heavy morning showers meant the start of the match was delayed from 1pm local time to 5.45pm, and South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first.

Openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow made a bright start in the first couple of overs, with Roy greeting fast bowler Anrich Nortje with a couple of boundaries when he pitched too short. But Nortje rebounded by making the first breakthrough, Roy (14 off 11) skewing a catch to a shortish, straightish midwicket.

And then Pretorius ripped through the top-order with three for 26 in five overs. The medium-pacer removed Phil Salt (17), brilliantly caught by David Miller, and Joe Root (1), who both targeted the leg-side to the inswinger but were deceived by the length and pace of the ball.

Pretorius then bowled a superb inducker to castle the dangerous Bairstow (28 off 27), and England were 62 for four in the nin^th over.

Maharaj (6-0-29-1) and Shamsi (6-0-39-2) then bowled superbly to further reduce England to 101 for six in the 18^th over. Shamsi’s set-up of captain Jos Buttler (19) was a beauty to behold as the left-arm wrist-spinner dismissed him for the second match in succession.

Sam Curran (35 off 18) ensured the momentum began to lean England’s way, however, attacking both spinners and hitting three brilliant straight sixes. That sparked Liam Livingstone, who delighted in the extra pace provided by Nortje to hit him for 6-6-6-4 in the 21^st over.

Nortje bounced back, however, with a clever slower-ball bouncer which Livingstone (38 off 26) flapped to a widish mid-on.

David Willey scored a useful 21 before Pretorius returned to have him caught at deep midwicket and finish with brilliant career-best figures of four for 36 in his six overs.

Lungi Ngidi was outstanding with his changes of pace and most unfortunate not to take any wickets.

The Proteas have every reason to be like an excited puppy bouncing around after winning the first ODI against India – making it three wins in a row over the superpowers of cricket – but key bowler Tabraiz Shamsi says they have to forget about what has gone before and approach Friday’s second ODI at Boland Park as the start of a new series.

If South Africa do win on Friday then they have clinched the three-match series 2-0 even before they go to Newlands over the weekend. Following the heroics in the Test series, the 31-run win in the first ODI was an impressive way to add to the feel-good factor and keep the momentum going.

“It was a very nice way to start the series, beating one of the strongest teams in the world, which shows we are also one of the strongest teams,” Shamsi said on Thursday. “But it’s about focusing on the next game now.

“We will go into it with much the same plan. We have made a great start but we need to forget about that game now and play the second match like it’s the first game of the series.

“Hopefully we can go 2-0 up and close off the series. But we are both very competitive teams,” Shamsi said.

The highlight of the first ODI was the incredible 204-run partnership between Temba Bavuma (110) and Rassie van der Dussen (129*), the pair coming together in the 18^th over with South Africa in trouble on 68/3.

But the way they handled the dual spin menace of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal showed the massive improvements in playing spin that are evident in the Proteas batting line-up. That will hold them in good stead in the second ODI, which is also being played in Paarl.

“It was a very slow pitch and there was some assistance for the spinners,” Shamsi said. “It was more of a subcontinental wicket than a South African one, which makes it even sweeter to outplay them.

“It was a massive statement the way Temba and Rassie batted. It was a tough situation when they came in, but the way they counter-punched and took the initiative away from India was incredible.

“Especially the way they played spin in helpful conditions, it shows that there has been a lot of growth in our team,” Shamsi said.